Scaling and Scrambling
by bare-footed-muse
Summary: After a roadtrip across half of Hordaland to find an absconding Elsa, breaking off an extremely messy engagement and fighting through a freak snowstorm, Anna and Kristoff have to navigate the comparative banality of a first date. A short little fic about their first date out, their first date at his, and their first date at hers. ModernAU. Just a heck of a lot of Kristanna.
1. Neither

Kristoff was wearing a shirt.

He never wore shirts.

He'd said he'd pick her up, but as he drove up the excessively long gravel driveway, flanked by equally-spaced trees and broken by two sets of gates, he began to wish they were meeting at the restaurant.

Eventually, he reached the house.

It was extremely imposing.

There was no way he was leaving the safety of his car to go knock on the enormous door – it had a great elaborate doorknocker? – so dug out his phone and messaged her.

 _Hey, I'm outside._

She replied almost immediately.

 _Great! I'll be two minutes xx_

Oh crap, should he have sent little x's? Was that a thing they did now? And should he reply?

 _OK. Don't be long._

He hesitated. Was that too blunt?

He backspaced and tried again.

 _No problem :) xx_

Oh god, no. Way too much.

 _OK. See you in a minute. x_

That would have to do.

Message sent, he glanced briefly up at the manor, then curiously about the driveway – if you could still call it that.

There was a huge _fountain_ that the gravel looped round, making a kind of circle. Cars were parked at various points – at two o'clock, Elsa's blue Alfa Romeo Spider. Kristoff eyed it admiringly. Next to it was Anna's little Kia, and at about nine o'clock a sombre, sensible saloon of some kind. The gravel continued around one side of the house, breaking off the circle and curving out of sight. Kristoff wondered if it led to the staff car park. He shook his head. Probably.

After about ten minutes, the door to the manor opened and Anna emerged. She was wearing a very pretty little dress (not the one from the night of the snowstorm, he was relieved to note), and looked about for a second, before spotting the unfamiliar car and gambolling over. Kristoff saw Elsa at the doorway. She waved at him slightly, and though he wasn't sure if she could see him through the gathering twilight, he raised a hand in return.

The passenger door opened.

"Hi!"

"Hey."

Anna clambered in, dumping her bag in the footwell and flashing him a brilliant grin. "Sorry I took so long!"

"That's ok. You look nice."

That was an understatement, but he wasn't sure what else to say.

"Awh, thanks! You clean up pretty good, too." She smiled at him warmly, taking in the shirt.

"Yeah, well. I thought I'd make an effort."

"I like it." There was a brief moment, where they both smiled at each other – and then remembered that this was a date. "So, um – shall we get going?"

"Sure," he started the engine again, and, with a crunch of gravel, started back down the long driveway. "You're going to have to direct me, by the way. I've never been to – what did you say it was called?"

"The Open Door. It's super cute, you'll like it. They do this _amazing_ arancini starter, oh my god…."

Anna continued to wax lyrical about arancini for a few minutes, by which time they'd made it to the ring-road.

"OK, so take the second left here…"

She was surprisingly good at giving directions, though they did end up going around a roundabout three times whilst she tried to remember which exit to take. Within about ten minutes though, they pulled up near a tiny little restaurant that Kristoff had never noticed before.

Anna hopped out.

"Come on! I'm _starving._ "

Kristoff found himself weirdly pleased that even now they weren't on a crazy adrenaline-fuelled road trip to find her sister, Anna still had that kind of determined energy about her. It was fun.

"Hang on," he got out of the car himself, locked it, and walked round. "I'm sure they're not going to run out of food."

"I don't want to risk it."

They walked up to the restaurant together. It was pretty cold, even though last week's unseasonable snow had cleared now, and after the warmth of the car it was a shock.

Anna had booked them a table, and chirpily gave her name once they were inside. Kristoff had to duck slightly under a few low beams – it was a cramped little place, but warm and kind of cosy. It smelt like pizza, but as Anna breezed past him to get to her seat, he caught a hint of her perfume, too.

They sat down, and it was bizarrely formal, in a way. The vast majority of their time together so far had been in the front of his truck, driving all over the place, with Sven sat between them, huffing or barking or snoring. Now there was a table between them, and menus, and a _candle_.

"Cute, right?" Said Anna, smiling across at him.

"Yeah. I wasn't sure I was going to fit through the door."

Anna laughed, and Kristoff was pleased. He liked making her laugh.

"How tall are you, exactly?

"Six-three, I think?"

"Damn," she said, appreciatively. "I think I'm like – five-five or something? Five-six? I don't know. I swear the doctor says something different every time. But I can get to five-ten in heels."

She seemed smug about this.

"Jesus, how big are these heels?"

"I like shoes."

Kristoff chuckled, fiddling with the corner of a napkin. "Good thing you weren't wearing those last weekend."

"Oh my god, can you imagine," Anna was already pouring over the menu, but peeked up at him with a sheepish grin. "I probably would have broken my ankle after like half a mile."

"Less than that."

"How are your first aid skills?"

"Not good enough for that. You'd have been on your own."

"What! You'd have left me behind?"

Kristoff grinned: this was nice. This was like the way they'd talked in the truck. Light, silly. It was too easy to joke with her. "Course not. But you'd have been going to the hospital, not to the North Pass."

"Yeesh," Anna considered. "Good thing I didn't wear them then. We wouldn't have been able to get Elsa, and we probably wouldn't be here, either. Let it be known – good shoes do not always a good date entail."

Kristoff snorted – she was so ridiculous – but then remembered. This _was_ a date. A _date._

He felt himself get nervous again, and busied himself with the menu.

He'd never been good at dates.

He really liked this girl though, so it had to go well.

"You ok?"

He looked up again to see her happy little face.

"Hmm? Oh. Yeah. Just wondering what to get. What are you getting?"

"Arancini. Of course. And – wine… and… something pizza-y. I never get pasta in restaurants, because it's always so _small._ I want more than five ravioli, you know?"

It was a valid point.

Anna began recommending about seven different dishes to him, but thankfully the waiter arrived and cut her off before she could get into full swing. He took their order (his Norwegian was perfect, but he spoke with a thick Italian accent that Anna clearly enjoyed) and whisked away the menus. Kristoff smiled a little awkwardly at her. Luckily, as ever, she was ready with conversation.

"So how's Sven? Does he miss me?"

"He's good. I think he misses how many treats you give him."

"Awh, he is such a good boy. I wish Elsa was a dog person. I would be _all_ about getting a dog."

"What would you get?"

"I don't know, something fluffy – maybe like a big ol' Bernese Mountain dog, or something. Oh – he could be friends with Sven!"

Kristoff grinned. "Sven'll be friends with anyone."

"How long have you had him?"

"About six years now?"

"Does he always come with you in the truck?"

"'Course. He's pretty well-travelled now."

They continued in this vein for a while, swapping stories of childhood pets. Anna had been deemed too irresponsible to have any, but had always wanted degus. Kristoff on the other hand had grown up with an awful lot.

"My family have sleds," he explained. "So there were a lot of sled dogs. And a few reindeer."

" _Reindeer!?_ "

Drinks arrived. Anna had got herself a very large glass of white wine, but Kristoff just had water. She smiled and held up her glass.

"Cheers."

"Cheers."

They took a drink, and they was a very slight lull in conversation. Kristoff started to worry, groping about for something to say, but Anna swooped in again.

"So where are your family from?"

"Snåsa. The town, not the area."

"Oh cool! So that's like… North?"

Kristoff grinned. "Yeah. North. Past Trondheim."

"Near Tromsø?"

"Not that far."

"Near… how far up the skinny bit?"

"Your geography is terrible, isn't it?"

Anna pulled a face at him and drank some wine. "Listen, I did _not_ come here to be insulted. If you want to take this outside, I am sure they will put the arancini on hold for me. I am a very loyal customer."

Grinning, Kristoff conceded. "It's towards the bottom of the skinny bit."

"Thank you. Are they still there?"

Kristoff hesitated. They were a bit nomadic, his family, prone to wandering about and making a home wherever they found themselves. But they did always come back round to Snåsa, so…

"…yeah. They kind of have a base there."

"Is it nice?"

"Yeah. It's between a lake and a national park."

"Nice!" Anna seemed impressed. "I've never really been outside of Bergen. We went on a few foreign holidays when I was younger, but Elsa and I had a – a pretty sheltered kind of upbringing."

Kristoff suddenly realised that she was asking him lots of questions, and he'd asked virtually none. He remembered the expectant silences from the last date he'd had with mortification and cleared his throat slightly.

"So, uh, have you – always lived round here?"

"Yeah. I mean, you've seen the house right?"

He wouldn't soon forget it.

"It's kind of a 'family home'. It was my grandfather's, and then when he died my parents inherited, yadda yadda. I think it's like an expectation that we stay there."

Kristoff felt a little uncomfortable again. He and Sven had a very nice, compact little flat just outside the city, and it suited them fine. You could see the fjord, you could get to the main road. It was close to some nice walks for Sven. It was good. Anna came from a whole different world.

"…so I don't know if Elsa's plan is to stay there or what. We've never really talked about it."

Kristoff nodded. "Where would you want to live, if you could?"

"Oh geez, I don't know. It would be cool to travel about a bit – I've never really _seen_ anything, or anywhere – it must be really cool to do what you do, and travel about so much."

Kristoff was slightly taken aback by this. No one had ever said that what he did was 'really cool'. He rubbed the back of his head.

"It's mainly motorways, and stuff. I mean if you go further north, there's some pretty crazy roads, but…"

Starters arrived. Kristoff sincerely hoped that she did not hate the way he ate.

Anna dived headfirst into her plate of arancini and there was a lull for a minute. Kristoff didn't mind this time though: it was a food-induced quiet, something he'd already encountered on last weekend's road trip with a huge bag of crisps.

"Good?"

"The best. How's yours?"

"Good."

Anna wolfed down the last of the arancini and automatically went to have some of Kristoff's water, but then stopped. She retracted her hand a little sheepishly.

He looked at her in bemusement.

"Can I have some of your water please?"

Kristoff laughed. "Yeah, sure. Help yourself."

"Thanks," she took a drink. "Sorry. I keep forgetting I've only known you like – a week or something. I can't just drink your water. Do you – " she replaced his water and looked about. "Want some of my wine or something?"

"I'm good."

"Ok." She grinned, looking a little embarrassed, but Kristoff had found the whole episode rather amusing. He grinned back.

"I can't tell if you're funny on purpose or not."

She gave him a look.

His grin spread wider. "I'm serious."

"Elsa's the funny one – but if you're trying to decide if you're laughing _at_ me or _with_ me – "

"At you?"

She gave him a gentle kick under the table, but left her foot resting against his.

"What do you like to drink then? When you're not driving."

"Um. Beer is always good. I like akvavit though."

"You _like_ akvavit?" Anna shook her head. "Kristoff, no one _likes_ akvavit."

She dived into a story about her first and last unfortunate encounter with the spirit – she'd somehow managed to fall headfirst down the bottom of one of her friend's staircases ("Staircase _s?_ Plural?" "Yes. Private schooling. Pay attention.") before vomiting all over a Persian rug – and Kristoff felt obliged to defend his drink of choice.

"We'll try some sometime. It deserves a second chance."

Anna seemed unconvinced, but agreed. Then she picked up on something.

"'Sometime'?"

Kristoff flushed. "Well. Yeah. If you want. If you want to go out again sometime, or something." He rubbed the back of his head, feeling incredibly stupid. None of his previous dates had ever mentioned him being too pushy, exactly – the opposite – but there was a first time for everything –

"Sure," she grinned. "I think I will."

He smiled stupidly back.

Starters were cleared, and mains arrived. There was so much pizza that it almost didn't fit on the table. Anna juggled her glass of wine about and they reshuffled candles and drinks menus until it all squeezed on.

Anna was extremely excited.

"Oh jeez. Come _here_."

It was a knives-and-forks pizza, but the speed with which Anna began to demolish it was still impressive.

As he dug into his own, Kristoff had to admit it was good. She hadn't been wrong about this place.

"Amazing pizza, right?"

Kristoff nodded.

"I think I first came here with my mum, years ago. We'd go out for like little daytrips, when dad was working and Elsa was – doing whatever Elsa used to do."

"Neat."

"It was so nice. I was always closer with my mum, I think, and Elsa with my dad. What about you?"

"My mum," he replied, automatically. "I didn't really have a dad, per se. You've met my family, though, so, you know. It's like a huge pile-on. Everyone's kind of everything."

Anna swallowed a huge mouthful of pizza and smiled warmly. "I can see that. They are so lovely. When did they adopt you?"

Kristoff considered. It was a lifetime ago. "When I was about eight."

"Awh, little Kristoff! I bet you were adorable. And super blonde. I mean, you're still very blonde, so."

"My family always laughs at me for being blonde."

Anna grinned. "I like it."

"Thanks."

He smiled a little awkwardly – compliments. Those were weird – and then cast about for a new topic of conversation whilst Anna got involved with her pizza again. Her foot was still against his and it was soft and warm and incredibly exciting.

"How are things with your sister?"

"Still a little weird. But it's so nice to have her _around_ again – I mean, she has a lot of work to do, but in the evenings and stuff – I know it probably sounds crazy, but I think I'm going to defer my place at university. Just to like… get to know her again. I'll go next year."

 _University. Damn._ Kristoff had forgotten that Anna was… young. Ish.

"What are you going to study?"

"Art History. In Oslo."

"Nice."

"Did you go to university?"

"Nah. Went straight to work. No idea what I'd have done."

"Hmm," Anna eyed him thoughtfully. "You're a practical kind of guy. I can see you doing a practical kind of course."

Kristoff chuckled and shook his head. "It's not for me. Art history sounds great, though. What do you do?"

"Oh, it's great – so you look at the development of art styles…"

She spoke for a while about art history, and the areas she was particularly interested in (Romanticism) and what she wanted to learn more about (Renaissance), and how she'd always spent a lot of time in the gallery at the manor (the _gallery_?) but had only started reading about the history a few years back, after her parents died –

" – it kinda snowballed from there. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but you know. That's not what it's about, right?" She smiled at him.

He smiled back. It had been so nice just listening to her talk about something she clearly cared about so much.

"Right."

They'd finished the pizza, and as the waiter with the accent came by he left them a couple of dessert menus. Anna ordered another glass of wine, and looked over at Kristoff.

"I'm good, thanks."

She smiled. "You getting dessert?"

"What would you recommend?"

"Gelato!" She did a silly Italian accent then grinned. "Seriously, the ice cream is great here. Recommended."

Kristoff nodded. "Let's do this."

There was banana, mint, vanilla, coffee… Anna um-ed and ahh-ed for at least two minutes before getting caramel, chocolate and strawberry.

"I always think three is a good number. Breakfast, lunch and dinner – starter, main, dessert – you, me and Sven…"

"You, me and Sven?"

"Yeah! I know they say three's a crowd – but he's just such a good boy…"

Dessert finished, plates were cleared and they got the bill.

"We splitting it?"

"I don't mind paying, if you like."

"Nah. Splitting is good." She smiled at him, and dug about for her purse.

They paid, and Anna stretched, looking very contented. She smiled over at him.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. You ok?"

"Yeah. What do you – what do you want to do now?"

Kristoff felt a little pang of nerves again, realising that this was kind of – a tipping point of the date. To continue the night or not. And where.

"I, uh – I don't mind. Up to you."

He felt like – and he could be wrong, he often thought he was – that this had gone quite well. A very large part of him didn't want to leave just yet, wanted to stay and talk to her more, hear her laugh and ramble on about family or travel or pets or interests – but another part of him was still quite flustered about the whole _date_ thing anyway, was pretty tired, and was ready to head home and tell Sven how it had gone.

Anna sighed. "I would really like to go get another drink or something, but – " She pulled her phone out of her bag for a second to check the time. " – I did promise Elsa I wouldn't be back super late – she'll probably be waiting up."

"Ok. You want to head back?"

"Is that all right?"

"Course."

He smiled and they stood up. Anna dug for her purse again and left a generous tip before heading out. Kristoff remembered to duck under the beams and Anna cheerily thanked the waiter as the door swung open, plunging them into the cold night air again.

"Oh _jeez_ ," Anna's breath made cold clouds before her. "I forgot how cold it was. Crap."

She had a coat – but should he offer her his too? Is that what people did? Or was that weird? Or –

"Come on!" Whilst he'd been frantically thinking, she skipped ahead. "We need to get the heaters on full blast. Stat." She reached towards him, other hand shoved firmly into the pocket of her coat, her face almost hidden by misting breath. He could still see her pigtails though, poking out from under a pink hat.

He walked towards her – "All right, all right, we'll get you warm," – and felt his heart backflip as she put her hand in his.

He had no idea what to do, so held it tight.

They reached the car and the moment was broken. He went round, unlocked it and she leapt into the passenger seat. Once they were both inside, Kristoff started up the engine and put the heaters on for her.

"Better?"

"Better."

"You're not going to put your feet on them this time, are you?"

She grinned, remembering the snowstorm, and how she'd first climbed into his truck at that petrol station brandishing snow chains, antifreeze, and energy bars, before putting her feet up to try and defrost them –

"Promise. I learnt my lesson. Chilblains are bad."

They drove back, Anna talking about that weekend.

"I'm not sure I actually – thanked you. Properly. For helping me out. I mean, I know I said thank you, but – "

Kristoff glanced across at her incredulously.

"You paid for the repairs to my truck."

"Yeah, but – _thank_ you. I don't know if I'd have ever found Elsa without you."

She was quite fervent, and Kristoff wondered if the two glasses of wine were coming into play a little.

"Hey, you're welcome. I'm glad I was there."

"I would have had to camp out at the petrol station. Can you imagine?"

"That's rough. You'd have had snacks, though."

Anna adopted a serious, affected voice. "It's day three, and the snow has finally cleared. In this exclusive report, we talk to two survivors who claim to have lived off _Lefsa_ and _knekkebrød_ …"

When they reached the manor a few minutes later, and began up the long, long driveway, Kristoff tried to decide whether or not to broach the question.

It would be a lot easier to just ask whether she wanted to see him again, or if she'd had a good time, but he didn't want to put her on the spot. What if she'd had a terrible time and had been bored out of her mind? What if she'd just been being polite? _He_ thought it had gone well, but what if –

They reached the fountain, and Kristoff brought the car to a stop.

"Anna…"

She looked over at him with bright little eyes.

"Kristoff."

"I, uh… have you got your keys?"

"I do," she dug them out and jingled them. "I am all set."

But she didn't get out, and, jingling completed, sort of fiddled with her keys in her lap.

Kristoff rubbed the back of his head.

"I had a – a good time, tonight. Thanks for showing me that place."

"Isn't it great?"

"It is."

She smiled. Hesitated. Leant towards him.

He realised what was happening, and with a huge flood of relief, cupped her cheek and kissed her.

They broke apart.

There was moment, and then they both grinned like idiots.

"So. See you soon?"

"Sure."

Still grinning, she got out of the car and gambolled over to the door. When she reached it, she turned, and waved, and disappeared inside.

As Kristoff drove home, he turned up the radio and sang along.


	2. His

They'd gone out a few times now – one time to the cinema, another to a different restaurant, once again on a walk with Sven.

That one had been nice. Well, they'd _all_ been nice, but on that one she'd got to see Sven, and he'd been all wrapped up, and wearing that little hat which she liked. She'd been wearing walking boots and a very sensible coat, and she'd got the feeling he quite liked Outdoorsy Anna.

 _"See, I can dress weather-appropriate."_

 _"Thank God for that."_

 _"I love walks. See, this is another reason I need a dog."_

 _"Well, you can borrow Sven whenever you like."_

So she was half expecting him to suggest another walk that weekend, and was pleasantly surprised when in fact, he offered to make dinner.

 _Hey. If you're about this weekend, do you want me to make dinner?_

 _Depends. Are you a good cook? x_

 _You'd be surprised. x_

 _Hmm. Sounds like a risk worth taking to me. Your place, or ?_

 _If that's ok with you? Totally ok if not._

 _Sure! Xx_

 _Great! Do you want me to pick you up? xx_

 _Nah, Elsa'll give me a lift. Shall I come over like 7? Friday? x_

 _7 on Friday is good. x_

So as they drove, Anna checked her makeup and Elsa fussed.

"Ok. So let me know if or when you need picking up ok? Whenever. Even if it's 2am. Just call me, ok?"

"I'll be fine, Elsa. But thanks." She smiled over at her sister. "He's nice, I promise – I'll have to bring him over to ours' so you can meet him properly."

"Hmm. He was really great during… that whole thing."

"Your French Leave?"

Elsa grinned. "Yes. My French Leave."

There was a beat as they turned up the innocuous little street Kristoff had given as his address. They were just outside the city now.

As they came to a stop, Anna flipped down the sun visor to check her mascara again.

"Do you like him, then?"

"I _really_ like him."

Elsa rolled her eyes, but grinned. "All right. Be safe, ok?"

"Promise."

"Text me?"

"Will do. Thanks for the lift. Love you."

Anna leant over and fluffed Elsa's plait before hopping out of the car.

"I love you too."

"See you later. Byee."

Then the door closed, and Anna bounced up to the front of the flats. She'd worn jeans tonight – dinner at someone's house was less dressy than out, right? – and hoiked them up a bit before scanning over the buttons for Kristoff's name. He'd said it was number 4, but it was still nice to see his name there. Kind of comforting. She was a bit embarrassed to admit she'd never actually been to a block of flats before.

 _You need to get out more, Anna._

The engine of Elsa's car still rumbled – Anna knew that she'd wait until she was inside before going.

It was a little past seven.

Button buzzed, she waited. Would he… talk over the intercom?

Then the door opened.

"Hey!"

Despite herself, Anna couldn't help but grin enormously: it was really good to see him.

"Hey! How're you?"

"I'm good. You find your way ok?"

"Yeah, Elsa has satnav." Then she glanced over her shoulder and leant towards Kristoff a little. "Can you wave at her so she knows it's you? She's having a worry."

Kristoff did so.

As if on cue, Elsa drove away.

Anna rolled her eyes, grinning, and stepped through the door. "I mean, she _knows_ what you look like, but it's dark and she's brilliant at getting herself worked up."

Kristoff shut the door and led her up a narrow flight of stairs.

"She seems really nice."

"She is a cutie. She was giving me a pep talk on the way over – 'call me if you need me, be careful, don't get murdered' – " she suddenly realised she was probably making him really uncomfortable. "I mean not that she thinks you're going to murder me, just that – "

 _Great start, Anna. Babbling about murder._

They'd reached the door, thankfully, and Kristoff opened it to reveal –

"Hey Sven!"

The big ball of fluff leapt at her, hopping up and down in his attempts to lick her face.

"How are you, big guy? You ok?"

"Come on, Sven," Kristoff sighed. "Stop making a scene."

Anna grinned, and crouched down to ruffle his ears. "I know, I know. It's exciting to see you too."

She chirped away at him for a little longer, before straightening up and smiling at Kristoff. "So. Whatcha cooking?"

He seemed a little uncertain now that she was here, but led the way.

"Cod. It's one of my mum's recipes."

"Sounds good!" She peered into the pots. " _Smells_ good too."

"Thanks. Do you, uh – want a drink or something?"

"I do. What have you got?"

He wandered over to the fridge and opened it for her. She wanted to follow, but thought she might be being a bit much, so stayed over by the cooker and leant back on a counter in the most nonchalant manner she could.

It was playing at the back of her mind that she might… stay the night.

Or not. Maybe. Elsa could pick her up. So, it was no biggie, really –

"I got you some wine – you like white, right? Or some beer, or… apple juice," he finished rather lamely. "If you'd prefer."

"No akvavit?"

She grinned wickedly.

"That's in the cupboard."

"Hmm. Maybe later then. Wine sounds great."

He smiled, broadly – Anna rather thought because he'd got it _for_ her – and took out the bottle, and a beer for himself.

"Ohh, is that a pinot grigio and everything? You're an angel."

He looked a little embarrassed, but smiled. "Yeah, well. It's what you've had at the last two restaurants."

"You pay attention!"

"I do."

He put the drinks down, checked on the food, then searched about at the back of a cupboard for a wine glass.

He poured her a drink.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. So, uh, dinner should just be a couple of minutes. Do you want to sit down, or…"

"Can I help?"

"Sure. There's some plates in that cupboard, if you want to get them warmed up."

"Ok! How do I do that?"

He looked at her, bemused. "How do you warm plates?"

"Yes! I'm a terrible cook. I am never in the kitchen."

Kristoff shook his head. "I'm embarrassed to know you. In the oven."

She stuck out her tongue and retrieved two plates. He shimmied to the side so she could get to the oven below the stove and she put them in with a clatter.

"Ok. So 30 seconds."

"Ok."

She counted in her head, pressing against the cupboards as he went past to drain one of the pots.

It sounded strange, but she realised she'd never seen him without shoes on before.

She looked at his sock-clad feet, thinking about what else she hadn't seen him without, and completely lost track of her counting.

He came back past with the pan.

"Hey, feistypants. 30 seconds."

"Oh! Jeez – " she bent back down to retrieve the plates. "Sorry. One job, huh?"

He laughed. "It's ok."

She then set the table – it was little, squeezed in between the sofa and the kitchen – and sat down attentively.

"Ready when you are!"

Kristoff sent Sven to his bed before bringing over a large dish of some kind of creamy-looking fish stew.

" _Damn._ That smells amazing."

It tasted just as good too. There were a few moments of silence as Anna appreciated the dish.

"So, where did you learn to cook? 'Cause I mean – you can _cook_."

He grinned, obviously a little embarrassed. She liked it. He had a nice smile and when he was embarrassed he did a cute thing with his hands.

"From my mum. Everybody pitched in with everything, so I kind of had to learn. Plus my mum's a great teacher."

"You know, you're a pretty dark horse, Kristoff. Do you have any other secret talents I should know about?"

He shrugged. "I can sew?"

As they talked, Anna decided one of the many things she liked about him was how _practical_ he was. He could _do_ stuff. She was a bit useless, really, always having had people to do things for her. She had hobbies, sure – her parents had forked out a small fortune on music lessons, language classes, dance classes – but nothing really practical. She had a feeling Kristoff had never needed to call a handyman.

"You know so much stuff."

He looked at her quizzically. "Not sure about that."

"I think you do," she said, following a large bite of fish with a substantial glug of wine. "Like when we were out in the snowstorm, you always knew what to do _and_ how to do it."

Kristoff seemed unconvinced.

"Could you teach me some?"

"Sure," he seemed surprised. "What do you want to know?"

"I don't know – I mean, all of it, obviously, but – maybe car things might be a start. So if I'm ever stranded in a blizzard again I don't have to hike to the nearest petrol station."

"All right. Are you going to teach me something in return?"

"Sure! French?"

He laughed at that, and again, as on every date so far, Anna felt her face start to hurt from grinning – things were so _easy_ with him.

"Or ballet?"

He laughed harder at that.

"You do ballet?"

"I used to."

"Amazing. You know you're the clumsiest person I've ever met?"

"I didn't say I was good at it!"

After Anna had practically licked the plate clean, they cleared up. This, Anna insisted, she could help with.

"I've made enough messes to be pretty good at cleaning up."

"That I can imagine."

As Anna washed and Kristoff dried, she chattered away about various messes she'd made over her life, and when they finished, he passed her the towel to dry her hands and she smiled up at him.

"So. What do you want to do now?"

"Well," he got another beer from the fridge and offered Anna some more wine. "As I'm not driving, I wondered if you wanted to have a few more drinks? Or we could watch a film, or something?"

"Ooh. Hmm. I mean – both is good. These are not mutually exclusive."

"True."

He topped up her glass.

"So what have you got?" She headed over to the sofa and plonked herself down.

He ran through a few titles, and they eventually settled on an old film they'd both seen a hundred times. He flicked the main light off, and as the opening rolled, came to join her on the sofa, sitting a very respectful distance from her.

Anna was having none of that. She set her wine down on the table and snuggled right up to him, tucking her feet up. He was very warm, and his big shoulders were surprisingly soft. He also smelt pretty nice.

She couldn't have been happier.

As the film played, she couldn't help but talk a little.

"Oh – I love this bit –" she leant forward for her wine – "In a second, when they come round the corner –"

"Audio-description by Anna?"

She gave him an elbow. "Shush you."

She felt him kiss her lightly on the top of the head and glowed.

"I'm going to grab another drink. You want one?"

"Please." She handed him her wine glass, and as he stood up, wriggled over into the warm space he'd left on the sofa. She heard the clink of a glass and the soft thud of a cupboard doors over the chattering of the TV.

The last few dates had been becoming increasingly relaxed. But here, in his house, with him wearing socks, it felt even more so. It felt natural.

Her heart was very full.

She called over.

"It's cold over here without you. Come back."

"Do you want me to turn the heating up?"

Ever practical. She smiled.

"No – just come back over."

He did, and she made to immediately resume her position snuggled up against his side, before catching sight of the glass in his hand.

"You weren't kidding! You _do_ like akvavit!"

"Of course. It's good stuff."

He settled back down, passing her a drink and laying one arm along the top of the sofa and the other – holding the heavy tumbler – resting on the arm.

Anna reached for it, and he handed it over. She sniffed it mistrustfully.

"Oof," her nose wrinkled. "It smells just like I remember. Dill-y." She took a very cautious sip, and almost immediately made a face. "Oh no, no, the memories…"

Kristoff chuckled and took it back.

The film played on. Anna finished her glass.

Wine-softened, she felt a little bold.

She kept stealing glances up at him. He looked a little funny from this angle, but the light from the TV was more than sufficient for her to take in the face she'd been getting to know better and better.

He was so aggressively her type.

Timidly, she put an arm across him. She felt him grow stiller for a moment at the touch.

After a moment, his arm dropped from the back of the sofa to around her shoulders.

Anna felt like she might burst.

She hardly heard the film now, every element of her attention on him, and the points of contact between them. It felt almost electric.

She felt the rise and fall of his stomach with his breathing.

 _What would he do if I…?_

So she looked up at him again, resting her cheek on his chest.

"Hey."

He looked down. "Hey. You ok?"

"Yeah."

"Are you tired?" He glanced up at the clock. "What time do you want to head home?"

"I'm not tired. And… I'm not sure."

Just in case, she'd packed a toothbrush – but there was no way she was about to tell him that.

"Well, let me know," he smiled at her. "I'm in no hurry for you to go."

She couldn't resist any longer: she stretched up and kissed him.

She could tell, from the way he responded, that she hadn't been the only one aware of the electricity of their touch.

There had been a fair amount of kissing on their dates so far – and hand holding, and walking too close to each other – but this was different.

This was… more private.

She sat up a little and turned more towards him, so he could bring his arms round and she could put her hands on his chest – _feel_ his chest, which was something she'd been wanting to do for some time – before throwing caution entirely to the wind and throwing one leg over to sit across him. She wobbled a little, the wine making its presence known, but he steadied her, moving his hands to her waist, to her legs; she felt completely giddy and lost her hands in his hair, kissing him as sensually as she could.

(She'd never been in this position before. Sure, she'd hooked up with a few people at parties when she was at school, and of course there had been Hans (though he'd really taken the lead on that) so she was desperately aware of her technique. And skill.)

 _Am I doing this right?_

Suddenly, the kiss broke, as a very curious questing nose came snuffling between them.

"Sven!" Kristoff frowned down at the happy dog and gave him a gentle shove. "Go on."

Anna giggled.

Kristoff grumbled.

"Do you want me to put him in the other room?"

"I feel bad. But maybe."

Anna slipped off him, feeling a little giddy, and lay back with her feet flat on the sofa and her knees up, flopping one arm above her head, listening to him shooing Sven. He was muttering very quietly to the dog, and Anna was fairly confident he didn't think she could hear him.

"I _know_ , but you need to give us a little space, ok? Don't look at me like that. You can go on the bed. Now go on."

She heard the bedroom door shut and his heavy steps.

"Hey. Dog is banished."

Anna giggled.

She reached for the remote and hit mute before reaching up to him and pulling him down by the hand to lean over her.

The TV illuminated them with cool light: the room was almost blue and white, with a hint of warmth from the counter-top light which was still on.

They kissed and fumbled and thrillingly, tentatively, Kristoff put his hands on her legs, her chest – she let her hands get lost in his hair, feel the shape of his back and arms, and after while, she wrapped a leg around him.

After carrying on in this vein for some time, Anna noticed the credits had begun to roll. She broke off for a second.

"Oh," she smiled at him, half-guilty, half-mischievous. "We missed the end."

"I don't mind."

"You've seen it before, right?"

"I have."

It was his turn to smile now, widely, beautifully – it was a rare smile, Anna thought. One seldom used. One for special occasions – or people.

That thought made her heart flutter.

She smiled back, and touched her nose to his.

She then made a very poor attempt to stifle an enormous yawn.

This amused him.

"You tired?"

"No," she spoke through another half-supressed yawn. "Oh damn. I think it's the wine hitting me."

Kristoff chuckled and sat back, bringing her up with him so they were sat facing each other. He glanced at the clock. "It is pretty late. Do you want to call your sister?"

"I feel a bit bad dragging her out. I should text her though."

"Well, you're welcome to crash here." He seemed to suddenly realise how that sounded. "I mean – just for sleep, if you want, I don't mean –"

Anna grinned at his embarrassment – she found it extremely endearing. "I getcha."

He'd gone a little red, so Anna kissed him swiftly. She got up and went over to her coat, digging her phone out of the pocket.

Kristoff switched off the TV, and headed over to the bedroom. As she texted Elsa, Anna could hear him turf Sven out.

The dog emerged, a bit ruffled from snoozing, looking back at Kristoff with great tragic eyes. Kristoff gave him a nudge with his foot as he poked his head out of the bedroom.

"Do you want a t-shirt, or something?"

As with the toothbrush, she had prepared for this, but – a big Kristoff t-shirt sounded far more romantic to her.

"That would be great."

He disappeared again.

She decided to follow, grabbing her bag, and padded curiously over to the bedroom.

The _bedroom._

It was completely weird. She met him, by chance, in a snowstorm – he'd nearly driven off without her – and now she was here. In his bedroom. Watching him root around for something clean she could wear to bed. With him.

Weird, yes. But also very right.

"Hey," she dumped her bag and went to stand next to him. "Any joy?"

He straightened up, producing a huge t-shirt bearing the slogan 'Wandering Oaken's Adventure Tours'.

"This ok?"

"Perfect."

There was a moment, and that exciting and slightly awkward tension returned. Kristoff rubbed the back of his head.

"Great. Ok. I'll uh, show you where the bathroom is."

It was literally the only other door in the house, but Anna appreciated the gesture all the same.

Her shut the door for her, and was gone.

Anna went over to the mirror and stared herself down.

 _Ok. You got this. He's just a guy. And you're staying at his house. No biggie._

But it _was_ a biggie.

She undressed and put on the shirt. It smelt nice. She took down her plaits and ruffled her hair a bit. She brushed her teeth (he wouldn't mind her rooting in the cabinets for some toothpaste, right? They were at that stage now, weren't they?) and took off as much make up as she could without compromising a bedroom-eyes look. She exhaled.

She didn't want to sleep with him – well, she _did,_ but she was totally unprepared for that – so it was just… sharing a bed. Maybe fooling about a bit. If they wanted.

She felt so nervous. And elated. And – arghh.

She left her toothbrush on the sink, gathered up her clothes and returned to the bedroom.

As she did so, another enormous yawn overtook her. "Sorry – I'm honestly normally an evening person – "

He'd changed too, and stood there a little awkwardly. Anna noticed he wasn't wearing socks now.

 _So many new sights today…_

"Hey," she smiled, and went to him, and took his hands. His uncertainty was charming. "You ok?"

"Yeah. I don't want – listen, if you'd rather I slept on the sofa, I don't mind. I know we've both been drinking, and I don't want you to think – "

Anna rolled her eyes, kissed him, and marched him over to the bed.


End file.
